Drive-By Truckers
A Blessing and a Curse

In crafting its sixth studio effort A Blessing and a Curse, Drive-By
Truckers initially set aside its ambitious tendency to turn everything it
touches into a conceptual work. Yet, in spite of its lack of a defined, lyrical
narrative, the outingís cohesion succeeds in holding its own against the
ensembleís increasingly formidable canon. Unlike Southern Rock Opera and
The Dirty South, the collection doesnít attempt to demythologize the
cultural icons that tower over those residing below the Mason-Dixon Line.
Instead, it ponders issues that are of a far more personal nature. Granted, the
band has marched down this road before, most recently on Decoration Day's
bleak, brooding exploration of lifeís choices and their frequently unfortunate
byproducts. Although A Blessing and a Curse isnít nearly as suffocating
and oppressive, it still wades into some truly depressing waters.

On Little Bonnie, for example, the impact that a fatherís sorrow over
the death of his 4-year-old daughter has upon his family is presented from the
vantage point of his later-born son; while Aftermath USA details the
sordid scene that follows a self-destructive, drug-and-sex-fueled bender.
Nevertheless, the character sketches created by principal songwriters Patterson
Hood, Mike Cooley, and Jason Isbell are filled with regret as well as a
desperate desire to rise above, rather than to escape, the hopelessness that
surrounds their inhabitants.

In that regard, the albumís title A Blessing and a Curse alludes to
the duality of life itself, and therefore, it isnít surprising that the darkness
that settles upon the affair also is pierced by a sense of optimism that things
can change. This is a point that is driven home primarily during the final track
A World of Hurt. Through the use of spoken word narration, Hood makes the
case that love and pain are intertwined with existence and that perseverance in
the face of hardship is the only way to survive. "Itís great to be alive," he
states steadfastly before singing the songís title as a defiant mantra, while a
surge of stabbing guitars and weeping pedal steel conveys the emotional
turbulence that threatens to wear him down.

While thereís little doubt that A Blessing and a Curse covers the same
ground upon which Drive-By Truckers has tread since its debut, it also
demonstrates the ensembleís rapidly maturing talent. In finding fresh
perspectives from which to relay its insightfully poetic ruminations, the group
essentially places its entire body of work within a new light. Better still,
A Blessing and a Curse is the first endeavor that Drive-By Truckers has
concocted that truly transcends the collectiveís regional heritage, and in
effect, this signals that rather than desiring simply to be a great Southern
band, it now is striving to be something far greater. Ĺ

Drive-By Truckers' A Blessing and a Curse is available
from Barnes & Noble. To order, Click Here!